Boo! McDonald's and Burger King Offer Spooky Black Burgers

Koji Sasahara/APBurger King is selling black burgers in Japan.
Competition can lead to some strange choices. How about McDonald's (MCD) and Burger King (BKW) duking it out with black burgers?

This spooky battle started after Burger King unveiled its black burger last month in Japan. Black bun (colored by bamboo charcoal). Black sauce (made with squid ink). Black cheese (more bamboo charcoal). Even the burger has extra black in it (black pepper). Seriously.

In Japan, it has met with mixed reviews. "I'm a little disappointed because to me, it has no special taste or anything," Julien Tirode, an event planner from France told the Associated Press. "Yes, the burger is black, the cheese is black, there's little black stuff in the meat, but [other than that] that, there's nothing special to me."

The Golden Arches Go Black, Too

McDonald's did what it had to, striking back with its own special edition Halloween black burger. You can't make up stuff like this.

To its credit, McDonald's skipped the black cheese and stuck with its traditional yellow. The McDonald's burger is dubbed the Ikasumi, which means squid ink. That's what's gives the bun its special color. Also on the sandwich are two standard beef patties, the cheese, spicy sauce and fried onions.